On what date was the first Pokémon anime episode broadcast in Japan?

The first Pokémon anime episode was broadcast in Japan on April 1, 1997.

Titled “Pokémon, I Choose You!”, the episode introduces Ash Ketchum as he begins his journey and receives Pikachu from Professor Oak. Pikachu initially refuses to cooperate, but the two eventually form a bond while fleeing a flock of angry Spearow.

The episode aired on TV Tokyo and launched the television series that became one of the franchise’s most recognizable parts. It is sometimes confused with the international debut: the English-language version began airing in the United States in September 1998, more than a year after the Japanese broadcast.

The episode also contains an early appearance of Ho-Oh, a Pokémon that was not obtainable in the original Red and Green games. Its broadcast date therefore marks the anime’s beginning, not the launch of the Pokémon video-game franchise, which started in Japan in 1996.